A Far Out Love Story
by odddude1
Summary: When Crystal and Amber come to Shaggy and Scooby for help, will the boys fall hopelessly in love all over again? Rated T for language and possibly adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, readers. I hope that you enjoy a little dabble into some fanfiction of one of my favorite shows: Scooby Doo. This was mainly inspired by Cartoon Network's showing of "Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders" today, as it is one of my favorite Scooby Doo movies, and one that I have enjoyed since I was a little kid.

Please, enjoy!

Chapter 1

"_I hope you can forgive us for deceiving you," she said, standing in front of the beam of light that was being projected down from the spaceship hovering just above. Her black hair shone magnificently; of course, he knew it wasn't really her hair, but part of her disguise. That didn't matter to him though. He would always remember her as having that long, shiny black hair, and that smooth, tan skin._

"_Yeah. Like, we understand," he answered, giving her a small smile to let her know that he meant what he said. He was being honest, but…_

"_You really are a groovy guy, Shaggy," she stated with a smile now on her face as well, as she moved close to him and reached out for his hands, looking him straight in the eyes. Oh, God, he loved her big hazel eyes. They were so… but he had to force himself to remember that those weren't really her eyes… those were part of her disguise as well._

_She continued with, "I hope you will always think of me as… a friend." A friend. That was all. That was all that they could possibly ever be, considering…_

_He knew that. He knew that all too well. But it still made his heart ache, and a pang of hurt flow through his brain. He would never let on to this, however. So, he kept up his smile for her sake. For Crystal's sake._

"_Of course, Crystal," he answered, trying to keep up his facade. It was killing him inside. "I just wish that… well… you know…" That part was true. He very much did wish that this was a dream, and that tomorrow, he would wake up, and find that Crystal was just a nature photographer… and his perfect woman._

_She nodded, understanding. He liked to imagine that, to a degree, she wasn't just doing that in sympathy… that she might actually feel the same way about him. "I'm looking for someone too," she said softly. She looked away from him, down at the ground, which made his heart just about melt. She looked back up at him in a mere second, and her eyes met his once more. He swore he felt his knees buckle. "But they say that long distance relationships never work out," she finished, giving him a small, sad smile._

"_Yeah." What else could he say? There was no rebuttal for that; it was the truth. Although it hurt like hell._

_He could hear Fred beginning to cry in the background, but he ignored it. He wasn't going to spend a second of this little time with Crystal that he had left thinking of anyone but her. He couldn't be sure that he would ever get to see her again, after all._

_Scooby and Amber were saying goodbye as well, right next to where he stood. But he didn't look over. That was his best friend's time to say goodbye; he couldn't invade on that. Besides, if he were to waste time looking over there, he would lose some of his precious time left with Crystal._

"_Thanks everyone, we had a great adventure." Crystal began speaking again, this time, to the rest of Mystery Inc., much to Shaggy's was only polite for him to turn around now, to look at his friends, even if it meant he was going to be looking away from Crystal. There was nothing else he could do without looking weird._

"…_And made new friends," she continued, looking back at Shaggy. He felt his eyes on her, and he turned his head around almost too quickly, finding himself lost in her eyes once more._

_He was so lost that he almost didn't realize what happened next. As he smiled sadly at her, she moved closer, and, for a brief second, their lips met, just as he had imagined. It was short and sweet, but… he knew that he would always treasure it forever: that quick moment where their lips connected. A glimpse at what never could have been._

_He was sure he had a stupid look on his face, now that she was pulling away, but he knew there was probably no way he could hide it; so he just smiled in a goofy way and put his hand up to his lips self-consciously, closing his eyes and revealing in the moment: a moment he was sure would play in his mind over and over again, perhaps for the rest of his life._

_When he finally got around to open his eyes again, Crystal was already moving backwards towards the beam, and was soon standing in the light, Amber by her side. Her bittersweet smile still occupied her face as she lifted up her hand, waving goodbye to the group, to him._

_A powerful wind seemed to blow on the two, creating a roar of sound, although Shaggy couldn't feel it. He was sure none of the gang could feel it either; it seemed to be coming from above, from some unseen force coming from the spaceship._

_Her black mane of hair lifted up from her neck and blew upwards around her head, like a halo. He thought that was a fitting image for her in his mind… a groovy angel. _His_ groovy angel._

_As the wind-like force continued to blow upon both Crystal and Amber, they slowly faded to their true forms… their alien forms. The reason they couldn't be together. The thing that kept them apart._

_Crystal's body was now bordering on transparent; not because of anything that the beam was doing to them, but because that was her body. She had turned a light blue in color, with only a few spots and swirls on her that were a darker blue. She looked very much like a human's picture of a stereotypical alien aside from her coloration: she sported the long, thin figure of an alien, coupled with fingers that matched, and a large, round head. Amber was a different story. She looked almost reptilian, with a long neck, green, scaly skin, and a head shaped like a scythe, complete with large, piercing yellow eyes. They were quite a sight to see, certainly. They might have been downright frightening; in fact, they had been when he had first seen them in their true forms._

_But that was the real Crystal and Amber, as much as he would have liked to deny it. That was the girl he was convinced that he had fallen for at first sight. That was his groovy angel. His groovy, _alien_ angel._

_He hoped that he was hiding his emotions as he waved goodbye, but he doubted that he was. He had always had a very expressive face, and he was sure that she could see that he was still obviously shocked by her appearance. But it was more than that. There was a pain present… one that wouldn't go away. Because despite the fact that she was an alien, and despite the fact that she had deceived him in that regard… he knew that he was still in love with her. It was something that he knew that no one would understand… so he wouldn't tell anyone, except perhaps Scooby. Despite all the deceit, and all the weirdness over the course of that day that they had known each other, he knew that there was no one else that he would ever want, no one else who would be as perfect for him as Crystal was. And now, he was losing her. He would never see her again._

_As she looked at them with her large, alien eyes, Shaggy saw a smile cross her face. It was small, as it had been before… but it was there. And he knew that it was a smile that said that she was sad that she had to go. It was a smile that seemed to hold a promise… a promise to never forget him._

_And so, then and there, he promised himself something too. He promised that, as long as he lived, he would never forget Crystal. Even if he never saw her again, which was very likely, she would always be there, in his thoughts. He would go on with his life, he would be happy. He would try to fall in love again, with someone of his own species, this time. But, forever, he would always think of Crystal, and the special time that they had had together. He would keep her memory safe, locked deep inside his heart, a depth that no one but himself knew existed._

_He watched forlornly as she raised her hand up once more in a goodbye, and the light closed around them, leaving no evidence that, moments before, two aliens had been standing there. It was as if they had never come. There was nothing left behind of them, no pictures, no technology. He was sure that Crystal had already arranged for her Jeep, and all of her gear to be picked up before she went home; she would have to have been careful like that to be chosen for her mission. No… nothing would be left._

_Except for his memory. That would still be there. His memory, and the memory of his friends. They were the only ones who would ever know about the real Crystal and Amber, aside from the SALF scientists… but they were probably going to a federal prison, so they would hardly matter now. No… the only ones who could ever have exposed Crystal and Amber were himself and his friends, and they would never do that. And so, Crystal and Amber would remain a secret among Mystery Inc. alone. He was sure of that much._

_The ship, beam now completely gone, was quick to move up into the sky, away from the space it had occupied in an open space at the top of the cave. It rose high above the earth, and then, quick as a flash, it zoomed away, faster than the speed of light, leaving only a flash of light among the stars. Just like that, she was gone, away from Earth, away from everything. Just like that, she was probably galaxies away. Just like that, he had lost her._

_He knew he had stood there, looking up at the sky for some time afterwards. Of course, the rest of the gang was ready to go soon, and, as much as he would have liked to stay, he needed to go with them to call the government and turn in the SALF scientists. There was no way he could stay. He took one last look up at the sky, the sky that, somewhere, held the secret of the location of his interstellar angel. Giving a heavy sigh, he turned and left, following the rest of the gang into the dark expanse of tunnels that made up the cave._

Shaggy woke up slowly, eyes taking a few minutes to adjust to the morning sunlight pouring through his bedroom window.

He didn't mean to, but he let out a loud, heavy sigh, which caused Scooby, who was sleeping at the foot of the bed, to stir. The Great Dane slowly opened one eye, and then turned his head to look at Shaggy.

"Ris romthing wrong, Rhaggy?" Scooby asked Shaggy concernedly. He let out a long yawn, then rolled over onto his back, wagging his tail. "Ris it rime for reakrast?" he questioned, coming to the conclusion that Shaggy was just hungry, as he always was in the mornings.

Shaggy laughed, looking at his best friend, and pulling himself out of bed, letting his bare feet touch the cold wooden floor. It gave him a chill, but that was to be expected, as he had just crawled out of his warm, comfortable bed. "Like, you know it, Scoob," he replied, mid-laugh. "Like, let's go get something to eat. I'll call up the rest of the gang, and see if they want to hit the Malt Shop with us."

"Rokay, Rhaggy!" Scooby replied enthusiastically, licking his lips for extra emphasis. Neither paid any mind that malts were not a reasonable breakfast; neither really cared. All that mattered was that they loved food, and that was somewhere where they could get it cheap and easily enough.

As Shaggy made his way into the bathroom to take a shower, he pushed the thoughts of the dream from his mind. It wasn't the first time he had dreamt about Crystal since that day some years before. It most likely wouldn't be the last time either.

As he turned on the shower and let his pajamas drop to the floor, he found consolation in what always made him feel better: the thought that in a few minutes, he would be enjoying food: more specifically, a steaming hot plate of French fries and a chocolate malt. Now _that_ was what he called delicious.

****

Okay, so, if you liked it, please, leave me a review. I love getting feedback.

Also, I actually had the movie open in another window while I was writing this, so I could be SURE to get the scene with Crystal and Amber right. If there are any mistakes, please, let me know so I can fix them.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm so sorry that this took me so long to update, readers. I've been meaning to, but last semester was a hard one towards the end, and stuff kept coming up. I know that's not a great excuse, so I'll stop going on about myself and just jump into chapter 2. This chapter is mainly to tell you what's been going on with Mystery Inc.

Chapter 2

"It's been way too long since we've done something like this, Shaggy," Velma said. The two were sitting at the gang's favorite table at the Malt Shop. Scooby was over at the counter on the opposite side of the place, pestering an employee with an ever-growing list of increasingly complicated orders.

"Yeah. That's probably the reason why," Shaggy laughed, gesturing towards Scooby as he spoke. The Great Dane was eagerly devouring another sundae messily. A mixture of ice cream and dog drool was steadily pelting the unfortunate man behind the counter.

Velma laughed heartily. "I remember how they used to cringe every time we walked in with Scooby. Those were some good times, Shaggy." She sighed, and the faraway look in her eyes told Shaggy that she was reminiscing. "It's too bad that Fred and Daphne couldn't be here."

Shaggy had only realized after he had called Fred's cell phone and gotten his voicemail that he had forgotten that his two friends were out of town and on their honeymoon. When Mystery Inc's ascot-clad leader and the gang's redheaded fashion queen had started dating two years previously, no one had been in the least bit surprised. Scooby, Shaggy, and Velma all agreed that it had been a long time coming.

It had been surprising, though, to Shaggy at least, that Fred and Daphne's romance meant a lot less time that they spent with Mystery Inc. Instead of going to the Malt Shop with the group like they used to when they had free time, the two would spend time with each other on a date. Slowly but surely, as the two continued to become more and more serious about the relationship, the time that Mystery Inc spent traveling the world and solving mysteries became smaller and smaller until it disappeared altogether. By the time that Daphne and Fred announced their engagement half a year ago, Mystery Inc, and its days solving mysteries together, were over.

Attending the wedding a week previously had shown Shaggy just how much the group had drifted apart. It had been so long since he interacted with the bride and groom that as he stood there by Fred in a stiff tuxedo, watching Daphne walk up the aisle toward them, he barely recognized either of them. Their mannerisms had changed entirely since the days of Mystery Inc. Instead of the occasionally cocky, always confident leader Fred had been, Shaggy saw a scared man who was desperately in love, and who nervously fiddled with his bowtie. Instead of the fashion-conscious Daphne who was always obsessed with her hair and her outfit, Shaggy saw a woman who had eyes for nobody but the blonde headed groom. Fred and Daphne were in love, and that was the strongest bond that anyone could ever have. The two were completely infatuated with each other; and, as good as that was for both of them, it was something that Shaggy knew he could never be a part of.

He had accepted that fact, then and there. The two deserved each other, and they deserved to be happy, Shaggy knew. He would never _could _never, begrudge someone else the happiness that he had wanted, but couldn't have. Still, it hurt sometimes that he couldn't simply call his friends, invite them to the Malt Shop, and know that they would be there.

He looked across the table at Velma, and thought about how even though they still hung out, they were growing apart as time went on. He sighed inwardly, consoling himself with the knowledge that no matter what happened in the future, he would always have the memories… and without a doubt, he'd always have Scooby Doo.

Scooby wandered back over to the table and sat down, temporarily stuffed and satisfied. He hopped up onto the spot beside Shaggy in the rounded booth and wagged his tail contentedly. Turning to Velma, he asked curiously "Row's Ratrick?"

"Oh, he's fine," Velma answered, referring to the man that she had been dating for some time. "He's out of town right now, but he'll be back soon enough. He's trying to track down some more of the costumes from our mysteries."

Patrick was the keeper of the museum in Coolsville that featured an enormous collection of the costumes that had been used by the various villains in Mystery Inc's past. He and the gang had been involved in a mystery a few years ago, and Velma and Patrick had been inseparable ever since.

"You guys are, like, a perfect couple," Shaggy commented before he absentmindedly took a sip of his malt. "You really like him, don't you?"

Velma blushed a deep shade of red. "Well, yeah. I love him." She stirred her chocolate malt with her straw. "We are pretty well suited for each other. I guess there really is somebody out there for everyone." She gasped as soon as she realized she had said it.

"…_there's someone out there for everyone," Velma said as Shaggy rode off in Crystal's jeep. She hadn't meant for him to hear her, but he had anyway._

_As the arid wind rustled his hair as they drove across the desert, he smiled happily to himself, thinking about the comment. _There's someone out there for everyone, and maybe I've finally found my someone. _He looked at Crystal; at her long, black hair billowing behind her, and at her angelic, perfectly shaped face and wondered… _Is this was love is like? Is this strong, confident woman in bellbottom pants the one for me?

_Shaggy didn't know, but he hoped that she was. _

"I-I'm sorry," Velma said, looking at Shaggy with wide eyes. Scooby tilted his head and studied Shaggy closely.

"Like, that's okay, I'm fine," Shaggy said, but his voice cracked and gave his true feelings away.

"Oh, Shaggy." Velma's fingers rapped on the table nervously. "I'm… I'm so sorry to have said that. I wasn't thinking, and I didn't make the connection to Crystal in my mind until after I'd said it." He winced a little at the mention of Crystal's name, and Velma reached across the table and patted his hand comfortingly.

"It's not your fault. It's been about… five years. I should be over it by now." He pulled his hand away from hers, embarrassed that she felt the need to comfort him.

Very carefully, she asked, "Has there… been anyone else?"

Shaggy shook his head. There had been women had had found attractive, sure, but nothing serious. No one had quite captured his heart like Crystal had in the short time that he had known her.

"Have you ever _thought_ about seeing anybody?"

He shrugged. Shaggy had never been very interested in dating, even before he had met Crystal. She had been unique, one of the few girls that Shaggy had ever imagined having a future with. Afterwards, he had never bothered looking. He was sure that no matter how hard he searched, there would never be a woman like Crystal. She had been one of a kind… even if she had really been an alien from a far away planet.

"I know that I shouldn't be, but I've been, like, thinking about her a lot lately. I can't really help it. She's just always sort of… there, at, like, the back of my mind." He wondered if he should tell her about the dreams he'd been having of Crystal for the past months, but thought better of it. If she asked, then he would tell her. If not, then that would stay his secret. It would stay his sanctuary, were he could be with Crystal, and it didn't matter that she was an alien and had to go home, and it didn't matter that he was a human bound to Earth for the rest of his life. In his dreams, she would be just Crystal, and he would be just Shaggy, and they could be happy there, together, like they could never really be…

They sat quietly at the table for a long time. Scooby had long since finished off their malts when Velma spoke. "I don't want this to sound harsh, but," she paused, as though searching for a better way to say what she needed to say. She couldn't seem to find a different set of words, and finally continued. "You should stop thinking about her, Shaggy. It's the only way that you're ever going to be able to move on, and find the right person for you." She reached into her purse, pulled out her wallet, and placed a couple of wrinkled dollar bills on the table. The three stood up, and Velma pulled Shaggy into a comforting hug. "I've got to go to work, now." Velma had owned a bookstore for the past few years, and the job was demanding enough that she had very little free time. Shaggy was flattered that she valued him enough to spend some of her precious time with him. She looked up at him and smiled kindly. "Please, try to be happy."

He put a small smile on to his face for her, and released her from the hug. She gave Scooby Doo a friendly pat, and said goodbye. The two walked her out, then watched her get into her small, foreign car and drive away.

As Shaggy watched her car disappear around the corners, he wondered if he would be able to be happy. Velma had a valid point, as she always did… she was the smart one in Mystery Inc for a reason. But how could Shaggy be happy when the person he wanted to be with, the only person he had ever loved romantically, lived on a far away planet and had no way of contacting him?

Did he even _want _to be happy without her in his life?

Hopefully, if nothing else, this chapter gave you a good idea of what has happened to Mystery Inc. I needed to give you all a little intermediate before I get into the real plotty stuff of this story.

Anyway. I'll try to have the next chapter out in a more reasonable amount of time.

Read and review if you feel like it. ^^


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